Zvi comments on Local Ordinances of Fun - Less Wrong

18 Post author: Alicorn 18 June 2012 03:07AM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (153)

You are viewing a single comment's thread. Show more comments above.

Comment author: Zvi 19 June 2012 12:17:33AM 0 points [-]

This mostly sounds like loss aversion versus current abilities. The proposed temporary states don't seem objectively that bad! Would Alicorn-by-her-own-strength having to cook as she does now rather than eat at nine star restaurants, or play music on a flute rather than be given access to future, superior instruments, sound so bad?

Comment author: Dorikka 19 June 2012 10:14:22PM 1 point [-]

I can see what you mean by 'objectively bad', but don't see why anyone should care about the concept.

Also, I think that you have too low of expectations for a utopia -- both of your sentences were pleas that such a state of being would be acceptable, but I don't think that's what we should be going for here. Compromises can be made later if and only if they must.

Comment author: Alicorn 19 June 2012 12:30:58AM 1 point [-]

I'm not that interested in how "objectively bad" eating bugs for fifty years is. (Let alone spending centuries domesticating my own bananas and setting up my own deep sea fishing expeditions.) I don't think they're reasonable prerequisites.

I cannot decipher your last sentence; please rephrase.

Comment author: AdeleneDawner 19 June 2012 04:16:49AM 1 point [-]

I cannot decipher your last sentence; please rephrase.

Instead of comparing eating bugs to eating modern food, compare eating modern food to eating futuristic super-perfect food. The difference is roughly comparable but the latter may be more emotionally accurate.

Comment author: Alicorn 19 June 2012 05:13:19PM 0 points [-]

More emotionally accurate how? Is the idea that we get to keep our existing tools and only have to make new ones ourselves? Or that I shouldn't feel as grossed out by eating bugs as I do so here's something not-gross to think about?

Comment author: AdeleneDawner 20 June 2012 02:46:41AM 1 point [-]

More the former, at least for those of us from Old Earth for whom losing our standard of living would be traumatic, but also the latter in that eating bugs wouldn't be gross if you were used to it and also eating actual genetically-uncharted plants that were grown in actual biological dirt might look just as disgusting from a far-future perspective.